Birmingham-Second Avenue
Hotel Hillman
Red Mountain - Iron Mine
US Post Office & St. Peter's Church


History of Jefferson County, Alabama

Transcribed from ALABAMA, HER HISTORY, RESOURCES, WAR RECORD,
AND PUBLIC MEN FROM 1540 TO 1872, by W. BREWER

Jefferson was established by an act of the first legislature of the State, Dec. 13, 1819.  The territory was taken from Blount, and is nearly the same as when first organized.  It lies in the north centre of the State, south of Blount and Walker, west of Shelby and St. Clair, north of Shelby, east of Tuskaloosa and Walker. It was named for Mr. Jefferson, the Virginia statesman. Its area is about 975 square miles.  Property was assessed in 1870 at $1,350,630.00; of which $1,072,099.00 was real estate, and $278,531.00 was personalty. The population decennially is exhibited as follows: 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 Whites 5121 5486 6714 9078 9839 Blacks 1734 1645 2275 2668 2505 The farm lands--56,964 acres improved, and 197,308 acres unimproved--were valued at $1,140,247 in 1870.  The live stock--1754 horses, 686 mules, 8360 neat cattle, 5437 sheep, and 13, 753 hogs--were valued at $430,702. The productions in 1869 were 45,219 bushels of wheat, 251,184 bushels of corn, 9336 bushels of oats, 26,082 bushels of potatoes, 31,566 pounds of butter, 8180 gallons of sourghum, 1470 bales of cotton, 8135 pounds of wool; the value of animals slaughtered was $108,809; and the value of all the farm productions was $607,967. The surface is a succession of mountainous ridges and alluvial valleys.  The soil is generally light, with a clay substratum, and admirably adapted for small farms. This is one of the great mineral counties of the State.  Iron ore abounds in an inexhaustible quantity, coal is plentiful, and sand-rock, marble, lime, &c., exist. The iron deposits attracted attention many years ago, and the Irondale and Red Mountain smelting and casting furnaces were in successful operation during the war between the States.  They were both burned by the troops of Gen. Wilson, but the former has been rebuilt.  Two or three other industries of the kind are about to be established, and Jefferson bids fair to lead her sister counties in this important source of wealth. The Locust fork of Tuskaloosa river flows through the western portion of the county.  Forty-five miles of the Alabama and Chattanooga railroad lie within its limits; and about thirty-four miles of the railroad from Montgomery to Decatur.  Other roads are projected through the county. Elyton is the seat of justice.  It was incorporated Dec., 20, 1820, having been laid out just previous to that date, and Matthew H. Gillaspie, Samuel Hall, Wm. C. Tarrant, and Col. John Martin were appointed to hold the first municipal election.  It now has about 700 inhabitants.  It is named for Mr. W. H. Ely, the agent of the deaf and dumb asylum, and who deeded to the county the quarter section of land on which the town stands on the condition that the courthouse should be erected here. Birmingham is the name of a young city two miles northeast of Elyton, at the crossing of the railroads.  The "Elyton Land Company," of which Col. James R. Powell is president, selected the site, and called it for the manufacturing city of the same name in England.  The lots were exposed for sale June 1, 1871, the first house was built August 29, and it was incorporated as a city December 19, with a population of 1200 souls.  Its growth continues, and the population is now estimated at 2500 souls.  It lies in the heart of the great mineral region, and capitalists have already invested largely in the vicinity with the view of developing its wondrous resources. Jonesboro is a village in Jones' Valley. Reuben Read, William Ervin, John Admas, John Cochran, and William Prude were the commissioners appointed by the legislature in 1819 to select a site for the courthouse of Jefferson, and John Martin and Peyton King were added in 1822.  Election precincts were first established in the county in 1819 at the store of Wiggin & McWhorter, at Greer's old store-house, and at the store of King & Brown.  A year later one was established at Micajah Lindsay's, and in 1821 one at Squire Sanders', and Old Town.